The Manger in the Mall

DateLine (11/2/05 – Ponce, Puerto Rico)

It must have been Christmas 1993. Harriett and I were attending the country church where I grew up and she was the Minister of Music leading our small but courageous choir. I’m going to give Harriett the credit for initiating the events described below as she responded to the prompting of the Lord. She boldly made a call to the Westgate Mall in Spartanburg to ask permission to present our Christmas musical inside the mall during the busy Christmas shopping period. Can you imagine the surprise when the response to the request was an enthusiastic yes? We were thrilled to have the privilege of sharing our Christmas gift to the masses.

By the time the date arrived we had assembled costumes for the entire choir and added a few ragtag drama characters to provide visual reinforcement for the message of the music. You can imagine our excitement as we transported a makeshift sound system, electronic keyboard, tape player, and ourselves to the packed mall on the busy weeknight. Our group was so short of professional equipment that the keyboard stand was an ironing board covered by a bed spread. Easily a third of the entire congregation of the church was involved.

We were given a prime spot on one end of the mall at the entrance to one of the anchor tenants; Belks. As we scurried about to complete our setup and preparations it was as if we did not exist to the busy patrons filing by in a constant stream. An assembly of shepherds, wise men, Mary and Joseph and yes, a live infant just a few months old playing the role of the baby Jesus was positioned in front of the choir. Filled with apprehension, not knowing how we would be received, fully aware of the limits of our skills, we enthusiastically launched into our musical, which as I remember was a collection of classic carols and contemporary Christmas music; all carefully chosen to remind the holiday shoppers of the “reason for the season.”

I wish that I could tell you that the heavy shopper traffic ground to a halt as our voices filled the shopping mall, drawn to our music and the message. There was as I remember no such massive response. There was a more subtle but yet extremely profound response. As the shoppers would pass there would be a brief pause, sometimes lasting for a portion of a song, sometime several songs. Mothers and children, fathers and children, husbands and wives, old and young they came. And for a brief moment, the shopping list, the hectic schedule, the late hour did not matter. It was obvious that the Gospel was physically and audibly intruding into the marketplace of consumerism, but for brief moments for some listeners it seemed a welcome intrusion. The traditions that threatened to impede the arrival of the Babe were held at bay if for a moment.

The sight that is burned into the visual center of my brain is the children who would gleefully approach the living baby in the manager, parents in tow. Even while we were concentrating on our presentation we could almost read the lips of the parents as the visual presentation prodded them to tell the Christmas story to their children while kneeling by the manger’s side, in the same posture assumed by the worshippers 2000 years ago. There is no doubt in my mind that people’s lives were impacted by our presence in the mall that night. Here we are about 7 weeks from Christmas. I would encourage you to be open to God’s promptings to be His ambassador where ever that may lead, especially during this Christmas season.